Multi-GNSS Combination Multipath Reflectometry Based on IVMD Method for Sea Level Retrieval

Abstract

Sea level monitoring is particularly important in coastal areas that are vulnerable to marine disasters. It was recently demonstrated that the global navigation satellite system multipath reflectometry (GNSS-MR) technique, which uses multipath signals reflected from the sea, can be applied to determine the sea level. However, this approach does not provide sufficient accuracy or equally spaced sampling to meet the actual sea level monitoring requirements for certain stations. To solve the deficiency of the traditional GNSS-MR technique, the least squares method, which is based on sliding time windows, was applied. Using the sliding windows to combine the quad-constellation multi-GNSS retrieval can effectively improve the accuracy and time resolution of sea level retrieval, but insufficient data or a lack of data in some time ranges and missing overflights in some timeframes can lead to the calculation of faults in these time windows, causing the estimated loss of corresponding sampling points. In this study, we used a robust regression solution strategy based on multi-GNSS sea level retrieval and an improved variational mode decomposition (IVMD) algorithm to process sea level retrieval after robust regression. BRST and HKQT stations are located on the western coast of France and the northern coast of Hong Kong. The two stations can both receive satellite observation data from the four satellite systems. Through the experiment, using data retrieved from the BRST and HKQT stations, the results of this study demonstrate that the IVMD method based on multi-GNSS sea level retrieval can further improve the accuracy to <10 cm and can achieve 10 min equal interval sampling. This is significant for using GNSS-MR technology to detect sea level height and monitor sea level change and could be applied to other sites.